US embassy cable - 05AMMAN103

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 000103 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/05/2015 
TAGS: PREL, KPAL, IS, JO 
SUBJECT: GOJ MOVES TO RETURN AMBASSADOR TO TEL AVIV 
 
REF: AMMAN 00044 
 
Classified By: CDA David Hale for Reasons 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
1.  (C) Summary.  The King has instructed his government to 
return an Ambassador to Tel Aviv, and the Israeli Ambassador 
here - usually a glass half empty man - is modestly 
optimistic that a way can be found to save the Jordanian 
government's "face" with a modest release of Jordanian 
prisoners, now that Jordan has dropped its insistence that 
four men convicted of pre-treaty terrorist murders be 
included.  The arrangements may not be made in time for a 
visit by Silvan Shalom, penciled in for January 12 - the 
timing of which Israeli diplomats say privately is driven by 
Shalom's vanity.  End summary. 
 
2.  (C) Royal Court Minister Samir Rifai told CDA on January 
4 that King Abdullah, after his December trip to Washington, 
directed that Jordan's ambassador to Tel Aviv be returned as 
soon as practicable after the January 9 Palestinian 
elections, and certainly within the month of January.  The 
onus was on the government to figure out how to get out of 
what Rifai readily described as "the box Jordan had put 
itself" in by linking the return to impossible demands 
related to the release of four Jordanian prisoners held by 
Israel for pre-peace treaty terrorist murders.  As reported 
reftel, Foreign Minister al-Mulki has been searching for a 
face saving-way to do so, and dropped the demand related to 
the four. 
 
3.  (C)  Israeli Ambassador Yacov Handelsman confirmed to CDA 
on January 5 that in line with press reports, Israel was 
working with the GOJ to prepare for a visit by Foreign 
Minister Shalom to Amman next week.  Handelsman said that the 
GOI was "definitely prepared to do something" on the release 
of some other Jordanian prisoners now that the GOJ had shown 
some flexibility.  Handelsman noted, however, that legal, 
political and procedural obstacles could prevent movement on 
the prisoner issue in time for Shalom's proposed visit to 
Jordan, which the Israeli DCM (protect) characterized as 
driven more by Shalom's concern that DPM Olmert's visit to 
Amman last week upstaged him in his self-perceived role as 
the manager of Jordan-Israel relations.  A Jordanian MFA 
spokesman told the press January 3 that al-Mulki had informed 
Shalom that "the Israeli government must take an initiative 
that would facilitate the visit and guarantee its success by 
releasing Jordanian prisoners." 
HALE